Garment-harness combination



March 3, 1970 R. s. FOOTE GARMENT-HARNESS COMBINATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 16, 1968 FIG./

INVENTOR. RONALD S. FOOTE 94M ATTORNEYS P I I z m March 3, 1970 R. s. Foo'rE 3,498,408

GARMENT-HARNESS COMBINATION Filed Jan. 16, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RONALD S. FOOTE ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,498,408 GARMENT-HARNESS COMBINATION Ronald S. Foote, 2672 Hubbard St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11235 Filed Jan. 16, 1968, Ser. No. 698,191 Int. Cl. A471 3/04; A62b 1/16; A6311 29/02 US. Cl. 182-6 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment-harness combination to be used by firemen, painters, riggers, window-washers, and the like. The combination includes an outer garment and a harness permanently attached thereto. The harness fixedly carries a fastening means for releasably fastening the harness to a structure which at least partly supports the wearer of the garment. Thus, with this combination the simple wearing of the garment will result in the presence of a harness which is ready for use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a garment-harness combination.

In particular, the invention relates to a combination of this type which is adapted to be used by firemen, window-washers, riggers, painters, and the like.

People who are employed in hazardous occupations requiring them to be situated at the exterior of buildings and the like at relatively high elevations are conventionally provided with harnesses by means of which it is possible for such people to releasably fasten themselves to a suitable supporting structure. At the present time, it is conventional to provide special harnesses for this purpose, and people in occupations of this type will place the harness over their outer garments so that the harness is in a position ready for use.

Because such conventional harnesses are worn over the outer garments, they do not always have a secure mounting on the person who wears the harness, and in addition considerable time and inconvenience is involved in putting such harnesses on and taking them oif. Under certain circumstances this latter time factor can be critical. For example, in the case of a fireman, the time required to don a harness may result in loss of life to a person who might otherwise have been rescued during the time delay required for donning the harness.

In addition, it is necessary to provide a suitable space for storing the harness when it is not used, and during travel it is necessary to carry the harness about. These latter requirements involve inconveniences which are highly undesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a garment-harness combination which will avoid the above drawbacks.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a combination of this type which will result in very reliable positioning of the harness on the wearer in such a way that the harness cannot shift undesirably with respect to the wearer of the garment.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction of this type which will eliminate all inconvenience, time delays, and the like involved in putting a harness on and taking it off.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a combination of the above type which does not require the harness to be stored away when it is not used and which does not require any special carriers or the like ICC for the harness when it is not used during travel of the user of the harness.

In accordance with the invention the garment-harness combination includes an outer garment and a harness which is permanently attached thereto. This harness carries a fastening means by means of which the harness can be releasably fastened with a structure which at least partly supports the wearer of the garment. Thus, because the harness is permanently attached with the garment, the donning of the garment will result in automatic positioning of the harness ready for use, and all of the above inconveniences in connection with harnesses which are separate from the garments are avoided with the'combination of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation showing how the harness is releasably fastened with a structure for supporting the wearer of the garment;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of an embodiment of the invention where the harness forms a combination with a fire coat;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a garmentharness combination of the invention, the garment of FIG. 5 being shown in phantom lines so as to more clearly illustrate the details of the harness;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the structure of FIG. 5 showing the garment in section and showing how part of the harness is positioned for rescue purposes; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional plan view similar to that of FIG. 6, but showing an embodiment where the harness is situated at the interior of the garment.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Although the structure of the invention is of general utility in that it can be used by painters, riggers, windowwashers, and the like, it is illustrated in the drawings and described below in connection with use of the invention by firemen for fire-fighting purposes.

Thus, referring to FIG. 1, the garment-harness combination 10 of the invention is shown worn by a fireman while he lowers himself along a rope 12 which is connected at its upper end to a peg 14 at the upper edge of a building 16, for example. The combination 10 includes an outer garment 18 to which a harness 20 is permanently attached. The harness 20 carries a fastening means for releasably fastening the harness to a structure which will at least partly support the wearer of the garment 18.

As may be seen from FIG. 2, this fastening means includes a flexible tab 22 which is permanently connected at a free end with a ring 24 made of metal and passing through a loop formed at one end of the tab 22, as shown in FIG. 2. This releasable fastening means 22, 24 is capable of having the ring 24 thereof slipped over a hook 26 which is releasably closed by a leaf spring 28. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2 this hook 26 forms part of a slider 30 around which the rope 12 is threaded in the manner shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the rope 12 passes through an opening 32 of the slider 30, being coiled around the part of the slider 30 which defines one side of the opening 32 thereof, and then the rope passes through an opening in a projection 34 which projects forwardly from the wall of the slider which has the opening 32 and which carries the hook 26. The bottom end of this wall 36 is pivotally connected with a lever 38 which is itself provided with a projection 40 through the rope 12 passes, and at its outer free end the lever 38 has an additional opening 42 through which the rope passes. When the operator holds the slider 30 in the position shown in FIG. 2 movement of the slider downwardly along the rope is prevented while when the operator turns the lever 38 downwardly the weight of the operator will act through the harness on the slider to cause the latter to slide with the operator down the rope 12, and by regulating the angular position of the lever 38. it is possible to regulate the braking force which retards the downward movement of the operator. The particular structure to which the fastening means 22, 24 can be releasably connected for supporting the wearer of the garment 18 does not form part of the present invention.

The garment-harness combination is shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. This particular combination includes the fire coat 18 in the form of a waterproof coat whichis worn as an outer garment and which can be closed on the wearer by the conventional releasable clasps 44.

The harness 20 of the combination 10 includes a waistencircling band 46 which extends around the waist of the wearer of the outer garment 18 and which is permanently fastened to the garment 18 as by being directly stitched thereto with a relatively heavy yarn, the band 46 being fixed to the exterior of the garment in the illustrated example. The band 46 terminates in a pair of free ends 48 and 50 which are connected with a releasable connecting means 52 by means of which the free ends of the band 46 are releasably connected to each other. For example, the end 48 may carry a hook member 54 which can be closed by a leaf spring similar to the leaf spring 28, and this hook member is slipped onto a ring 56 which extends through a loop formed in the band 46 at its end 50. The hook 54 may itself be connected to a loop at the. free end 48 of the band 46 by way of a ring 58 which passes through the latter loop. An adjusting means 60 can be provided for adjusting the band 46 to the size of the waist of the wearer, and this adjusting means in the illustrated example takes the form of a pair of rings 62 through which a part 64 of the band 46 is threaded and pulled tightly in a well known manner as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, part of the free portion 64 of the band 46 will pass through both of the loops 62 around the exterior of one of these loops and then again through the other of the loops in order to frictionally hold the band at these loops 62 and thus adjust the length of the band 46. The free end 48 of the band is fixed to the rings 62 as by providing the part 48 at its left end, as viewed in FIG. 3, with a loop through which both of the rings 62 pass.

The harness 20 further includes a pair of upright bands 66 which are permanently attached to the garment 18 as by the stitching 68, and these bands 66 respectively extend at the front of the garment which is visible in FIG. 3 upwardly from the region of the free ends of the waist band 46 and over the shoulders of the garment down the back thereof in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4. It will be noted that the stitching 68 continues along the entire length of the upright bands 66. At their lower rear ends the upright bands 66 of the harness 20 are stitched at 70 directly to the waist band 46 and also to the garment 18 if desired, although at this point only the waist band 46 need be stitched at 70 to the upright bands 66 which in turn by the stitching 68 serve to permanently attach the waist band 46 to the garment. At their lower front ends the bands 66 are stitched at 72, above and below the band 46 directly to the garment, so that in effect the lower front ends of the band 66 form loops through which the waist band 46 passes to provide for permanent attachment of the waist band 46 to the garment at the front thereof.

The rear portions of the bands 66 have elongated extensions 74 forming leg loops which when not in use have the solid-line position shown in FIG. 4 and the position shown in FIG. 3. Thus, at this time the leg loops 74 cross each other at the back of the garment and come around the front to where they are hooked onto rings 76 carried by loops formed at the lower front ends of the bands 66. These leg loops 74 carry at their free ends spring-closed hooks similar to the hook structure 26, 28 for releasably connecting the free ends of the leg loops 74 with the rings 76. When the harness is used, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the loops 74 are disconnected from the rings 76, passed between and around the legs of the wearer of the garment and then again fastened to the. rings 76, so that in this way the leg loops 74 will pass beneath the crotch of the wearer of the garment to provide a very reliable fastening of the harness on the wearer of the garment.

The fastening means 22, 24 includes a tab of elongated webbing 22 which is looped around the free end 48 of the waist band 46 and which is permanently fastened to the garment 18 by the stitching 78, so that through this stitching the waist band 46 also is premanently attached to the garment 18, and at its free end the tab 22 is formed with the loop through which the ring 24 passes. This is the ring which is mounted, for example, on the slider 30 as indicated in FIG. 2.

As may be seen from FIG. 4, the upper rear portions of bands 66 can be interconnected by a transverse harness portion 80 also permanently fastened directly to the garment 18. For example, the transverse harness portion 80 can be directly stitched to the garment 18. This trans verse garment portion 80 permanently carries a ring 82, so that if the fireman should become trapped, it is possible to lower a hook which can be connected with the ring 82 for raising the fireman out of a location where the fireman is trapped.

The manner in which the above-described structure of FIGS. 1-4 is used is believed to be clear. When the structure is not used the harness 20 remains permanently attached 'with the garment 18 so that wherever the latter is hung when not used there also will be harness 20 permanently attached with the garment 18. The user will simply don the garment 18 in a conventional manner, closing it upon himself by way of the clasps 44, and no manipulations are required to render the harness 20 ready for use except to connect the free ends of the band 46 by way of the releasable connecting means 52. If desired, at the scene of a fire the user will displace the leg loops 74 from their solid-line position of non-use shown in FIG. 4 to the dot-dash line position of use shown in FIG. 4, this latter position also being illustrated in FIG. 1. When the harness is to be used the operator will simply hook the ring 24 of the releasable fastening means 22, 24 onto a structure which will at least partly support the wearer of the garment 18, such as, for example, onto the slider 30 shown in FIG. 2.

It is not essential that the structure of the invention include a harness having all of the features shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Thus, for example, it is possible to provide'a harness as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 which is provided only with a relatively wide waist band 84. This waist band 84 is permanently attached with a garment 86 shown in dotdash lines in FIG. 5, and this garment may be a fire coat or any other outer garment. The waist band 84 will be permanently fastened with the garment 86 as by the stitching 88 and/or stitching extending longitudinally along the garment 86. The band 84 terminates in a pair of free ends 88 which carry a releasable connecting means 90 for connecting the free ends 88 to each other. This connecting means 90 can take the form of a spring latched hook 92 capable of being releasably connected with a ring "94 which is releasably fastened to the right end 88 of the band 84. Additional rings 94 may be provided so that by selectively placing the hook 92 in engagement with one of the rings 94 it is possible to adjust the band 84 to the size of the wearer. This band 84 can be permanently stitched to the exterior of the garment 86, as shown in FIG. 6, and it will be noted that FIG. 6 shows stitiching 96 adjacent the free ends of the band 84 by means of which this band is also fixed directly to the garment 86.

At the region of its right free end 88, the band 84 has permanently fastened thereto the releasable fastening means 22, 24 described above.

In this embodiment the band 84 forms an inner band which is almost entirely surrounded by an outer band 98 which is permanently fastened at one end 100 to the inner band 84 as by suitable stitching which can pass through the garment 86 for fastening all of the structure permanently thereto. From the fastening 100 the outer band 98 extends freely along the exterior of the inner band 84 and the band 98 terminates in a free end 102 which carries a spring-latched hook 104 in a suitable loop at the free end 102 of the band 98, and this hook 104 extends through a ring 106 permanently fastened with the band 84 at its right end 88, as viewed in FIG. 5.

Thus, with this construction when the wearer dons the garment 86 the harness 84 will also be in a position ready for use, and it will be noted that it is provided at its rear portion with a tab 108 permanently fastened with the band 84 as by the stitching 88 and carrying a loop 110 by means of which a line can be hooked on to the wearer of the grament in the case where the wearer is trapped at an inaccessible location, for example.

On the other hand, as is indicated in FIG. 6, it is possible for the wearer of the garment 86 to release the hook 104 from the ring 106 and to extend the outer band 98 around a second person situated in front of the wearer of the garment 86, so that by passing the outer band 98 around the waist of such a second person and again hooking the hook 104 onto the ring 106, it is possible to connect a person to the wearer of the garment 86 for rescue purposes.

This latter construction is thus particularly suited for fire-fighting purposes as well as for use in connection with activities such as mountain climbing and the like.

Thus, with this construction after the garment 86 is donned, the connecting means 90 is used to interconnect the ends 88 of the band 84, and whenever desired the ring 24 can be connected to a supporting structure such as that shown in FIG. 2.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 is the same as that of FIGS. and 6 except that in this case the band 84 is permanently attached to the garment 86 at the interior thereof and the releasable connecting means 90 is thus situated at the interior of the garment 86. In this case the tab 22 will pass through an opening of the garment so that the ring 24 will be situated at the front exterior of the garment to be hooked onto a device such as the slider 30 of FIG. 2. Also, the band 98 is located at the exterior of the garment together with the ring 106, so that the band 98 is also accessible at the exterior of the garment to be used in the manner described above in connection with FIG. 6.

Thus, with all embodiments of the invention the simple donning of the garment will result in placing the harness in readiness for use, and the only additional operations may be simply that required to connect together the free ends of a waist band of the harness. All of the harness bands are made of a relatively heavy, flexible substantially non-stretchable webbing so that they have a strength which is more than sufiicient to take care of any load to which they will be subject. Problems in connection with putting the harnesses on and taking them off are completely eliminated, and the same is true of problems in connection with storing the harness and carrying the same about. In addition, it will be noted that because the harness of the invention is permanently attached with the garment it is very reliably positioned on the wearer in a manner which will greatly reduce any tendency of the harness to slip undesirably on the wearer.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment-harness combination comprising a fire coat, a harness permanently attached thereto, and fastening means permanently carried by said harness for releasably fastening the latter to a structure which will at least partially support the wearer of the garment, said harness including at least a waist-encircling band having a front region and a pair of free ends at said front region, and connecting means carried by said band at said front region thereof for releasably connecting said free ends thereof to each other, said fastening means being fixed to and extending upwardly from said band and also being located at said front region thereof.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said releasable fastening means is fixed to said band adjacent one of said ends thereof and includes a flexible tab projecting upwardly from said band and terminating in a free end, and a ring fixed to said tab at said free end thereof.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said flexible tab is fixed directly to said fire coat between said ring and said band so that said tab also functions to connect the band to the fire coat.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said band is fixed to the fire coat at the exterior thereof.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said band is fixed to said fire coat at the interior thereof.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said fire coat is formed with an opening through which said fastening means extends to the exterior of said fire coat.

7. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said releasable connecting means is adjustable for adapting said band to different waist sizes.

8. A garment-harness combination comprising an outer garment, a harness permanently attached thereto, and fastening means permanently carried by said harness for releasably fastening the latter to a structure which will at least partially support the wearer of the garment, said harness including at least a waist-encircling band having a pair of free ends, and connecting means carried by said band for releasably connecting said free ends thereof to each other, said band forming an inner band, an outer band having one end fixed to said inner band adjacent to one of the ends of the latter, said outer band having a position of non-use extending along and situated outwardly of said inner band, and said outer band terminating in an end situated in its position of non-use adjacent the free end of said inner band which is distant from that free end to which said one end of said outer band is fixed, and second releasable fasteing means releasably fastening said outer band at its free end to said inner band at the region of the end of the latter which is distant from the fixed end of said outer band, so that the free end of said outer band can be disconnected from said inner band to form a loop separate therefrom with the free end of said outer band again fastened to said inner band so that said outer band can be placed around a person to be rescued.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,647,293 8/ 1953 Wintercorn 1826 2,979,153 4/1961 Hoagland 1823 3,022,855 2/1962 Lewis 182-3 3,176,793 4/1965 Hlacia 182-3 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner 

